SOUTH WHITLEY – The final score shows Wawasee beat Whitko 5-0 in a boys tennis match at the Wildcats’ courts Tuesday afternoon. But what the score won’t show is three of the five matches were three-set, two-plus hour marathons on a hot, sticky late summer day. The Warriors rolled against Whitko players with less than a half-season of experience at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles, with Nathan Perek dropping just one game in two singles sets. Evan Krueger and Dylan Staley did likewise in their doubles match, and each of those contests lasted about 45 minutes. It was another 90 minutes before Wawasee got the third win to clinch the team victory. In all three of the remaining matches, Whitko players claimed the first set and Wawasee had to come from behind to win. The Warriors got the team win as Cal Heinisch and Tim Conley beat Nicholas Rose and Tim Gensch 5-7, 6-0, 6-3, but not before the Whitko duo held off a pair of match points. Cameron Brill beat Cory Hersha 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in a match that featured long points and strong rallies. The last match to conclude was at No. 1 singles. Wawasee’s Nate Haines had a 4-1 lead in the opening set before Bailey Platt came back to win 7-5. Haines took the second set 6-2, then fell behind late in the third set, staving off a pair of match points before forcing a tiebreaker. The Warrior then fell behind 4-2 before winning four of the next five points in the tiebreaker to claim victory. Whitko head coach Victoria Cornell said her young team, with nearly everyone in their first or second year of play, will benefit long-term from matches like they played on Tuesday. “It gives the guys good experience, because we have guys who haven’t played before; it’s their first year playing. So getting into those types of situations helps get them ready not only for sectional play, but for the rest of the season,” she said. “I was really proud of the guys who continued to demonstrate good sportsmanship during some tough matches, congratulating good shots and keeping a good attitude.” On the other side, Wawasee head coach Vince Rhodes felt like his team may have taken victory for granted. “To me, they didn’t come ready to play. They already had it under their belt before they started playing,” he said. “I had to kind of chew ‘em out a little bit to get them going. Last year we beat them 5-0 but then they turned around and beat us in the sectionals.” Wawasee, 4-2, has now exceeded its team win total from last year. “I told the guys ‘we’re already on the downhill side.’ We were joking around a little bit, but I told them a lot of these matches are going to be identical, where you’re going to have to play hard and not be afraid to hit the ball and go for the win,” Rhodes said. “Half our thing is right here between the ears. We have to play hard.” Wawasee will host Concord on Thursday, and Whitko will host Triton.
